Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Ángel Piaggi (17 March 1935;

San Fernando, Argentina San Fernando is a city in the Gran Buenos Aires area, in Argentina, and capital of the San Fernando Partido, north of the city of Buenos Aires. Geography Located in the northern area of Gran Buenos Aires, San Fernando is composed of two clea ...

– 31 July 2012,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

) was an

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

(1958–1982) officer who was involved in the

Battle of Goose Green The Battle of Goose Green () was fought from 28 to 29 May 1982 by United Kingdom, British and Argentina, Argentine forces during the Falklands War. Located on East Falkland's central isthmus, the settlement of Goose Green was the site of a tac ...

in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

Career

The defending Argentine army forces known as Task Force Mercedes consisted of the Lieutenant-Colonel Italo Piaggi's 12th Infantry Regiment (RI 12) and a company of the 25th Infantry Regiment (RI 25). The day after the battle Lieutenant-Colonel Piaggi surrendered all Argentine forces, approximately 1,000 men, including 202 men of the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. He was later drummed out of the army in disgrace. In 1986, he wrote the book ''Ganso Verde'' (a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of "

Goose Green Goose Green, also known simply as Goose, is a hamlet in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 4 ...

", using the colour green to translate illageGreen), where he makes a strong defence of his decisions during the war and criticises the lack of logistical support from the Argentine commander-in-chief in

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

. He estimates that Task Force Mercedes only disposed 28 per cent of their intended firepower regarding artillery, mortars and heavy machine guns.Piaggi, page 169 (''Appendix'')

Notes

References

* * *Kenney Oak, David J. ''2 Para's Battle for Darwin Hill and Goose Green''. Square Press April 2006.
See here
*Falklands War Binderbook - Author Information Pending *Andrada, Benigno: ''Guerra aérea en las Malvinas''. Ed. Emecé, 1983. . *Piaggi, Italo A.: ''Ganso Verde''. Ed. Planeta, 1986. . 1936 births 2012 deaths Argentine military personnel of the Falklands War Argentine prisoners of war Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine Army officers People from Buenos Aires Province {{Argentina-mil-bio-stub Prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom